COVERGEL. Shield to prevent therapeutic endoscopy complications

Vicente Lorenzo-Zúñiga

Instituto de Investigación Germans Trias i Pujol (IGTP), Spain

There is currently a growing demand for therapeutic endoscopic procedures due to colorectal cancer screening programs (15 million colonoscopies annually in the U.S.). Although these techniques are generally safe and effective, in 15 % of cases there are serious adverse effects, such as bleeding or perforations, which may require emergency surgery and hospitalization, with the consequent increase in associated costs. These adverse events occur due to the inefficiency of the standard closure systems.

In this project, COVERGEL has been developed, a biocompatible, biodegradable and bioactive hydrogel that is applied endoscopically as a shield over the lesion to prevent these adverse events. COVERGEL has demonstrated excellent curative properties in preclinical studies, can reduce medical costs in therapeutic colonoscopy by 41 %, and has the potential to be used as a drug delivery platform for colon cancer and inflammatory bowel disease.